REBELS REACH THE MSHSL BOYS BASKETBALL STATE TOURNAMENT FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2016.
GLYNDON, M.N. —
“It was freaking pretty cool to be honest,” said senior guard Owen Leach. “I thought it was pretty cool. I was just happy we won. I told a lot of people I was just doing whatever we had to do to win.”
After a 50-point performance from Owen leach in the section championship, the DGF Rebels are off to the state tournament for the first time since 2016.
“Last year we lost in the section championship means a lot to get back there this year especially with this group of kids,” said Head Coach Mike Clark. “I got a nephew on the team. Watching these kids play basketball for a long time means a lot not only for us, but for the community too. Anytime you get into the section championship and you can win that’s a great thing.”
For Leach, reaching the state tournament was the goal for this season all along.
“That was definitely the goal from the start of season,” said Leach. “It was like, win the conference, win the section and then hopefully go down and make some noise in the state tournament. This was our biggest goal to be here and keep playing.”
Punching their ticket to state on Friday night, Leach and the Rebels have gone to state in football and basketball this year. Leach hopes to make this tournament a memorable one.
“It’s a big deal because I was on the field for that last play and it was not a good feeling,” said Leach. “Just to be back… It’s just super cool for us and it’s kind of a relieving thing. You get to… this is what your last thing will be and it’ll kind of mask over the football [championship]. It’s really cool that we’re here in basketball and we get a chance to play against all these good players out there.”
Leach remembers watching the rebels in state back in 2016. He hopes to give kids in town the same feeling he had.
“I remember watching that team play and I was super excited. we went down to the cities and I thought it was the coolest thing ever and those guys were super cool. So, I’m really excited for all the little kids and fans be able to come and watch us because I know it meant a lot to me when I was younger so I think it’s gonna be really cool for them to see us there and it will kind of give them hopes and aspirations and dreams to get there when they’re older.”
The Rebels will tip off against 3-seeded Plainview-Elgin-Millville at 8 PM Tuesday night. The game will be at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.